Anker’s new Alexa smart speaker is a dirt-cheap Echo Dot

In 2016, the brand Anker — best known for making USB chargers — decided to broaden its base of products to include smart home tech sold under the name Eufy. After kicking the new line off last year with a robot vacuum, Anker’s newest Eufy gadget is an Alexa-enabled smart speaker called the Genie that’ll sell for just $35.

In a nutshell, the Genie is just a cheaper version of the Amazon Echo Dot. You’ll plug it in, sync it up with your home network, then tell it to stream some music, play a podcast, turn your lights off, set a timer, or anything else you might think to ask. It includes the same far-field microphones that can hear you from across the room whenever you say the wake word “Alexa.” It works with the same services and smart home products.

Mike Rawson

Mike Rawson has recently re-awoken a long-standing interest in robots and our automated future.
He lives in London with a single android - a temperamental vacuum cleaner - but is looking forward to getting more cyborgs soon.